Goldman and Apollo Seek Buyers for SpaceX AI Chip Financing

Wall Street firms are marketing parts of the financing

24/7 Wall St. reports that Goldman Sachs and Apollo Global Management are in talks to sell pieces of the financing SpaceX is using to buy its next round of AI chips. The article says the amount involved is roughly $40 billion, and that some institutional investors were asked to consider stakes of up to $500 million before the loan is formally syndicated to a wider market.

The source says the report surfaced on November 4, 2026. It also notes that no one had independently verified the report. Goldman declined to comment, while Apollo and SpaceX did not immediately respond. 24/7 Wall St. adds that banks commonly sell portions of large loans before syndication, so the talks mainly indicate who will end up holding the risk.

What SpaceX signed

According to 24/7 Wall St., the signed transaction dates to October 26, 2026, when SpaceX disclosed a binding commitment for an approximately $40 billion master finance lease with an Apollo-managed entity. The lease covers NVIDIA Vera Rubin chips and related equipment. The article says the deal still has to satisfy closing conditions and is expected to close before the end of 2026.

The report says the structure includes an $8.3 billion senior secured loan led by Goldman for banks, along with bond tranches intended for asset managers. It adds that a $7 billion lease prepayment, together with that financing, funds about $47.3 billion of Rubin hardware due in the first half of 2027. An Apollo-backed vehicle called Atlas SP is described as the buyer of the equipment.

The risk shifts to investors

24/7 Wall St. says the arrangement is described as off-balance-sheet, but SpaceX would still have to make rent payments even if the equipment is damaged or affected by force majeure events outside anyone’s control. The article says SpaceX provides no residual value guarantee, meaning it does not promise what the chips will be worth at the end of the lease.

Because of that, the investors taking part in the financing would bear the risk that newer chips reduce the value of the Rubin hardware. The article says this is the central question behind the deal: how quickly newer silicon makes the equipment less valuable.

SpaceX’s spending and payback case

The article says the lease changes the timing of SpaceX’s cash outflow by turning part of its spending into fixed rent. It reports that purchases of property, plant and equipment reached $48.069 billion in the first nine months of 2026, compared with $13.846 billion a year earlier. Management, according to the article, expects capital spending of $35 billion to $40 billion in the fourth quarter alone.

24/7 Wall St. also cites SpaceX’s chief financial officer as saying AI infrastructure pays for itself in less than a year. The article says early results appear to support that view, noting that the AI segment generated $7.6 billion of the company’s $14.6 billion in third-quarter revenue. It also says Elon Musk said SpaceX rents computing power at “effectively the spot market rate,” rather than signing long-term contracts.

Market reaction and open questions

According to 24/7 Wall St., SpaceX shares closed at $146.90 on the day the lease was announced and are down about 7.5% since then. The article says the market appears uncertain about how quickly the spending will become profitable. It also says the company’s risk depends on whether spot computing prices stay high enough to support the payback case while rent and spending are already committed.

The article says NVIDIA faces a different exposure because it is paid for the Rubin chips regardless of who ends up taking the residual-value risk. It reports that NVIDIA closed at $200.13 and trades at about 40 times earnings, with the latest quarter showing $89.023 billion in Data Center revenue.

24/7 Wall St. says two things to watch are whether the lease closes before December 31, 2026, and whether SpaceX’s next earnings report shows AI revenue continuing to rise without price cuts. It says those questions will remain unless both happen.